VAT / Tax issue?

[Reeve of Shinra]

If I read correctly, the licenses bieng sold today are under vb solutions (a US based company), not Jelsoft LTD (a uk based company).

If that is correct, then I think you are incorrectly charging VAT to UK customers.

Can you clarify?

Thanks

[Wayne Luke]

There is no VAT being charged in the new shopping cart unless you purchase from vBulletin-Germany.

[Reeve of Shinra]

Thanks, when I was checking the upgrade options the other day I thought saw the vat notice but it appears I mustve been mistaken. Thank you for clarifying

[Reeve of Shinra]

There is no VAT being charged in the new shopping cart unless you purchase from vBulletin-Germany.

I wanted to bump this as it seems VAT is now being charged again to EU customers.

Is Jelsoft LTD (a UK company) the company under which we are purchasing the licenses under or is it still VB Solutions, INC -- a US owned and operated company?

[smackLAN]

Good question as this also brings back up the legality of vBS changing the terms of the license agreements too.

[Colin F]

We're still selling vBulletin from the US. From what I understand, EU law requires us to charge VAT when we sell to customers in the EU. They require this so as not to disadvantage EU companies.

[Steve Machol]

I posted this elsewhere, but to clarify some questions that have been posted about the addition of VAT to our prices for EU customers. We made a change to begin charging VAT due to some legal changes that were made within the EU at the start of 2010. These changes effect companies that retail a certain volume of products over the Internet into the EU market, recently vBulletin crossed that "volume threshold", and subsequently is now placed in a position whereby we must add these charges to EU customers. We understand these legal changes were made at the request of EU based companies to remove what was perceived to be an "unfair competitive advantage" for companies that were based outside of the EU.

As part of our responsibility to collect VAT, our application for a VAT ID # is in progress, and as soon as the EU have furnished us with such an ID number, we will publish it for your taxation purposes. Unfortunately the lack of such an ID # does not absolve us of the responsibility to collect VAT. I hope this helps answers any questions regarding this issue now.

[Shamil.]

Steve, I have to inform you and refer to the HMRC guidelines which explicitly absolve your responsibility to collect tax:

http://www.hmrc.gov.uk/vat/start/register/waiting.htm#4

Invoicing in the meantime

Until you receive your VAT registration number you must not charge VAT, or show VAT as a separate item on your invoices. To make sure that you do not lose income in the period after you applied for VAT registration but before you receive your VAT registration number, you should increase your prices by an amount equivalent to the VAT rate relevant for your goods or services, and explain to your customers why you are doing so.
Once you receive your VAT registration number you can then reissue those invoices, amended to show your VAT registration number and the VAT charged. This will ensure that your VAT-registered customers can reclaim the VAT that they have paid.

I will be calling the HMRC office tomorrow to confirm this.

[AlexanderT]

Steve, this has been discussed in another thread and I am surprised you are still claiming that it's "your responsibility to collect VAT" even without a VAT ID. See above post for more.

[Steve Machol]

Actually this is being looked at by the lawyers. Apparently it is a lot more complicated than originally thought. Adrian will post an update once this is all sorted. As for me, I'm not going to say anything further about this.

[Shamil.]

Thanks Steve, although, we do expect an apology for the confusion

[Boofo]

I don't think Steve owes anyone an apology as he can only deal with the info that is given him.

[Shamil.]

No definitely not from Steve, but from the company itself.

[Boofo]

No definitely not from Steve, but from the company itself.

Good luck with that.

[Shamil.]

Good luck with that.

I know, I know :/